Their Life Poem by BASAB CHAUDHURI

This is about my children -
they are grown up now.
At the moment both are busy
working on their laptop.
They have their life --
yes, their life.

I see the clock -
the pendulum moves
from left to right
and then reverses.

I go back --
to their childhood.
It was not their life then,
they did what I told them.
All were my life --
our life.

Now I see their faces
full grown.
From left to right,
even futher to right.

My life
Our life
Their life --
A quiet transformation
that I felt I understood.
-- I didn't.